Safety-coupling for freight-cars.



. 0. DAVIS. SAFETY GOUPLINGYOR FREIGHT CARS. APPLIOATIOH TILED IAR. 30,1910.

987, 1 18. Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

OLIVER DAVIS, 01' SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

SAFETY-COUPLING FOB FREIGHT-CABS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

' Application filed larch 30, 1910. Serial No. 552,805.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, county of Salt Lake, and State of Utah, have inventedccrtain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Couplers for F might-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates for freight cars.

The ordinary larlywhere the to safety couplers freight car coupler, particudraft is heavy, has a tendency to cause such compression of the drawbar spring that, in the course of time, the usual two inch, more or less, play ordinarily possible, soon becomes greater and permits a play of frequently as much as five or six inches, and in ordinary practice until this relatively great play has been attained, the car is continued in use, but when such play becomes possible, the caris put into the shop and'new draft springs placed on the drawbar. With theordinary car coupler, when more than about-three inches of play occurs, the chain which runs to the pin or lock be comes taut and, as at presentgenerally constructed, the coupling anduncouplingdevice causes sidewise pull to be exerted on the pin, the pin becoming bound, and if sulficient strain ensues, the chain breaks and very often on such occasions the draw-bar is pulled loose and no provision exists for pre venting the draw-bar from falling on the track and derailing the car. I

The present invention seeks to obviate the possibility of a draw-bar pulling out, as well as to prevent any binding of the coupling pin or device but, on the other hand, to provide a coupling and uncoupling device of novelconstruct'ion which will permit the .usual two inch, more or less, play of the pull the pin and uncouple draw-bar without causing pulling of the pin and will also ermit a play of the draw-bar up to fiye or six inches without causing any bindingof the pin or uncoupling of the car, but should the strain between the'cars tend to cause any greater play, will automatically the cars, thus preventingthe draw-bar from being pulled out. and causing automatic setting of the air brakes on the detached car, a condition of which the engineer will at once become apprised; The in ....ilull is set forth fully herein-. after and the novel feature are recited in the appended claim.

pm 10 which locks the knuckl the knuckle 3 rele In the accompanying drawings :F igure 1 is a vertical section; Fig. 2, a detail perflpective of the improvements and Fig. 3, a

etail of the spring. g

The draw-bar of the coupler is shown at 1 and the head at 2, the knuckle being shown at 3. The end of the car appears at 4 and the cross-beam at 5, the latter having an opening 6 through which the draw-bar 1 passes. Secured by a bolt 7 to the top of the draw-bar 1, just back of the head 2 and abutting the latter is a Z-shaped bracket 8 which overhangs the coupler head and is provided with a pulley 9. The coupling e 3, accom plishes its function by the lock block 11 carried thereby, the latter when the pin is in its lowered posit-ion, engaging the knuckle and holding the same in locked position, but when the pin is raised the lock block 11 passes into the space 12 and the'knuckle is then free. The lock block 11 is secured firmly to the pin 10 so that if the draw ba'r should pull out or the coupler headbreak they will be suspended on the lock block llfand prevented from dropping onto the track. The coupling pin 10 has a chain 13 which has about two inches slack and which chain passes over the pulley 9 and is connected to the-arm 14 of a rock shaft 15 having a hand lever 16 disposed for convenientoperation by the trainman at the side of the car so that he does not have to go between the cars to'efi'ect the coupling or uncouplin The rock shaft 15 at one end is ournale'd in a suitable bracket 17, but its inner end lies in an elongated link 18 in which it has a forward and rearward play, but retained by a leaf-spring 19 which normally keeps it toward When in this position, the slack in the chain will permit the ordinary two inch play, more or less, of the draw-bar when the car is inuse without causing the coupli .pin to be disenga edfrom the knuckle. S ould the draw-bar, e put undelflan unusual strain, the rock shaft 15 is at once drawn past the leaf spring 19 and the link 18 is of such length that a further play of the draw-bar of about four inch the, pin 10 is pulled, thus preventing the draw-bar from from becoming is such that a still furt draw-bar ensues, the pin 10 is pulled and the rear part of the link.

, uncoupling the; fol-' es is permitted before ulliug out or the coupler isenga ed, but-ifthe strain er movement of the locking means,

lowingca'r and thus relieving the strain.

v The application of the air brakes incident to uncoupling of the cars at once notifies the engineer-of What has happened. 'lhe-rurangenient of the parts insures the suspenion of the draw-bar if it becomes loose or if the coupler head should break and thus the parts are kept from falling on the track.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination with a draw-bar and a,

coupler having locking means, of a rock shaft having an operating handle and an arm having a loose flexible connection to the a bearing for one part of said rock shaft an elongated link extending lengthwise of the car constituting a bearing for the inner part of the rock shaft,

a spring device normally holding the rock shatt securely Hi the rear part of said link, mid spring device being adapted to permit the rock shaft to pass to the front part of the link when the draw-bar moves beyond its normal liinit'ot play, and an attached Z-shaped bracket on the draw-bar having 

